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Disciples II: Blades of War
Disciples II: Blades of War was included in the special edition of Disciples II: Dark Prophecy. Each of the four decks included represented the four original races of Nevendaar featured in the PC release. Rules Overview This is a strategic card game set in the Disciples II universe that doesn't require a computer! 2-4 players take turns controlling cities and resources, attacking their opponents with hired leaders and units, and eventually clearing the map of their enemies. An introduction to the Game As with many card games, you will each draw a hand of cards, kept hidden from the other players. Each player will have his own unique deck representing a specific race, and, consequently, different strategies. In this game you will notice that there are different classes of cards (which will be presented in the next section) such as resources, units, items, spells, etc. Each type of card will be used in different circumstances. Remember that you're not limited in the amount of cards you can play in one turn because your resources will dictate what you can accomplish. This means that you won't always have the same amount of cards in your hand. One concept that you will use often is called "tapping". When you tap, you will turn the card by at least 45 degrees and declare that you are tapping that card's resources. Once a card is tapped, you may not reuse it until it becomes untapped (generally at the beginning of your next turn). Card Types City cards These represent the cities that house and finance your armies. They are also places of refuge for your parties that offer more protection than the wilderness; the enemy can't cast spells on a party that is inside a city. To use the gold a city generates, you must tap the card. Each card will indicate how many cities you will need to tap to play it. The Capital card in each deck also counts as a city card, and can therefore be tapped. Mana cards: You can play these on any spot where there can be no cities (see the Strategic Map Diagram) if you own a city adjacent to the space. Mana represents the magical energy needed to cast spells. There are four kinds of mana, each of which is the main mana type for one of the four races in the game: White (Runestone) mana is used by the Mountain Clans, Blue (Life) mana is used by the Empire, Red (Infernal) mana is used by the Legions of the Damned, and Black (Death) mana is for the Undead Hordes. Some spells may have a casting cost of a combination of mana colors. Mana must also be tapped in order to use its power. Leader cards You need a leader before you can begin to build an army (party) and move around the playfield. Each side has three main leaders for general combat and two specialty leaders, the Rod Planter and the Thief. Rod Planter By planting rods on spots that have mana cards, a player may capture that resource. A Rod Planter may convert mana to your use if it is adjacent to the square holding the mana. This will cost the Rod Planter one turn, but you may turn the mana card to face your direction, indicating that you are the current owner. Thief Can be used to spy on, poison and steal from the other players when in an adjacent square by tapping the card. Cities offer no protection from the Thief unit. Unit cards You may only play unit cards in cities with leaders, and you may only place them in parties that have enough unused leadership points. You will need to make sure your leaders have enough hired units to effectively combat your enemy. Artifacts and other equipped items A leader may only carry one of these at a time, and they can affect him and/or his party during combat. These cards can give attack and defensive bonuses, or new special abilities. Single-use magical item cards Potions and orbs can only be used once. They can only be played during combat, and they are played directly from your hand. For example, these items can heal, enhance or revive your units. Spell cards: These are spells that can be cast using tapped mana, affecting the units on the playfield or even the flow of the game. The cards mention when the spell may be cast and the effect they will have. Some can even be used during the other player's tuen! There are various types of spells: † Events can be cast only on the caster's turn, outside of battle. † Instant Events can be cast at any time, except in battle. † Spells can only be cast on the caster's turn, outside of battle. These spells may only be cast on a space adjacent to a city the caster owns. Game Setup Each player uses his own deck, takes out his Capital and places it in front of him. Each player must choose one of the three main leaders (neither a Thief nor a Rod Planter may be used) from their deck and place in their capital (on top of the capital card). Everybody shuffles their deck with the remaining two leaders, and (optional) lets another player cut their cards. Everybody then draws five cards. Flip a coin to see which player goes first and if more than two players are playing proceed with turns in a clockwise order. If a player draws no cities on his first hand, he or she may reshuffle his hand back into his or her deck and draw another hand of five cards. Strategic Phase steps: This is the strategic phase of play, which includes actions that do not always apply every turn (for example, you won't have much to do on the first turn). Steps that are optional are indicated with a †, all other steps must be done if they're possible. 1. Untap all cards. 2. Draw a card. 3. Heal all living units to maximum HP. Living leaders get healed too, but dead leaders are revived only if they are in their capital, otherwise they stay dead. 4. †Place one "equip" item card in your capital per turn (Leaders must go to their capital to equip an item). Battle item cards are left in your hand until you choose to use them during combat. 5. †Play one City card in an open city spot on the map (see Strategic Map Diagram). 6. †Play one Mana card in an open mana spot on the map adjacent to a city you currently control (see Main Game Diagram). 7. †Play one Leader card in your capital (assuming you have enough cities to hire one). 8. †Play as many unit cards as you wish (and have the hiring cost for) in your capital or in any of your cities that contains a leader (with available leadership points). 9. †Transfer units and items between parties in adjacent spots (not that this is always done before parties can move). 10. †Play spells on non-city spots (cities are protected and can protect from spells). Remember that you must pay the casting cots by tapping the correct amounts of mana. 11. †Parties may now move to any available adjacent spot beside or in a city (no diagonal movements allowed). Two parties may not occupy the same spot, and since parties can move only once per turn, a party at a bottleneck on the map will completely block movement. 12. †Declare battles. Only units that have not moved may declare battles, and each party can only enter battle once per turn. Battles are resolved as they are announced, the player does not need to declare all of their battle once. Spells may also be played during this phase, between battles (no spells can be cast during battle). 13. Remove dead parties from the table and place them in the cemetery (a seperate pile of cards consistent of dead units and used spells). 14. †Use Leader special abilities (Thief or Rod Planter) on valid targets. 15. †Play spells and events: here you may play spells (healing spells, for instance) before ending your turn. 16. Discard if you have more than 7 cards in your hand. You cannot end your turn with more than 7 cards in your hand. Discarded cards go to your cemetery. 17. Declare end of turn. On the strategic map: Any cities and mana cards a player places on the strategic map are controlled until another player takes possession of them: a city is conquered when a party from the conquering player enters that city (which must be empty, if there was a party in the city, the conquering player would have to defeat that party before entering), and mana cards are taken by planting a rod on them using a Rod Planter. Each city creates one mana space in each non-diagonal direction around it. Leaders may travel freely in these areas and mana cards can be places in any empty space adjacent to a city owned by the player placing the mana. If playing a two-player game, a player must own two cities in front of their capital before they can add a city to the next row. Afterwards, there must be at least two cities in one row before the player can place cities in the next row. Once the complete map pattern is filled with cities (excluding the capitals: see Strategic Map Diagram), players may begin to place cities in branches away from the predefined areas. Regular leaders have 3 leadership points, while Thieves and Rod Planters have no leadership points. Converted mana and captured cities are considered tapped until the new owner's next turn. In any game, if one player has no more cards in his deck, he or she must finish the game with cards already in play. Battle Phase Steps: Use these steps every time a battle is declared on step 12 of the Strategic Phase: 1. Place units in formation on the battleground (see the Battle Map), remembering that unirs which are more vulnerable or those who have a ranged attack should stay in the back row, while stronger units which a lot of HP should stand in the front, to be able to attack the enemy, and sustain attack that would otherwise kill less powerful units. 2. Apply item and spell modifiers. All are cumulative. 3. The attacker chooses an unit to attack, use a battle item, or a special ability, and then taps the cars. 4. The defender chooses an unit to attack, use a battle item, or a special ability, and then taps the cars. 5. Repeat the process, alternating units until all units are dead or tapped for that battle round. Once all of both players' unit cards are tapped, the battle round is finished. 6. Repeat the process, but for the next round the Defender will launch the first attack. Each round will alternate the first attack to the other player. 7. When all the units in one party are dead, combat is at an end. All dead units other than the leader from the winner's party are put into the cemetery. If you win but have a dead leader and at least one living unit in your party, you will need to return to your capital to revive the leader. For the defeated party, all dead units and the leader are sent to the cemetery. Place a completely defeated party's item in the cemetery if applicable. 8. Return to strategic phase. Winning: To win a regular game, one player must kill all of the other player's parties on the strategic map. Optional winning conditions: † A player loses if another player takes his capital. † Once all of a player's parties are dead, another player must take that player's capital to win. † Teams may be created with a team goals similar to those listed above. Strategic Map: Battle Map: